The Power of Women to End AIDS
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Women and girls are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS — but they’re also at the forefront of the fight for an AIDS-free generation.
So today on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in the United States, we’re highlighting the stories of two of our EGPAF Ambassadors: Martha Cameron and Ashley Rose Murphy. We spoke with them about their own journeys living with HIV and the dreams they hold for the future.
As an advocate and a woman living with HIV, what do you see as the importance of raising HIV/AIDS awareness, especially among women?
Martha Cameron: There are so many things that we need to be aware of as women living with HIV, all of which have to with the social determinants of health. These include:
- Health care access
- Sexual and reproductive health
- Violence against women
- Poverty and income
- Housing
This hasn’t changed much over the past 6 years, and in fact in some cases has worsened.
I am also very keen on making women aware of the research associated with HIV. For the most part, women have been left out of research. Thankfully, there are also many organizations and advocates working hard to respond to things that affect women living with HIV.
Ashley Rose Murphy: If women are educated and empowered enough to be able to insist on condom use, it would decrease the number of transmissions from men to women and nearly end cases of babies born with HIV. Education is the key to saving lives.
How have you seen the power of women coming together to support one another, especially as a woman living with HIV?
Martha: I was honored last year to participate on the Host Committee for the United States Conference on AIDS, and worked to recruit and manage almost 200 volunteers for the conference. Most volunteers were people living with HIV or people working in AIDS service organizations who would not otherwise be able to go to the conference. Recruiting people means you have to make people aware of the issues and encourage them to actively participate.
What I love the most is just being among people and listening and sharing. My kids came too, and my desire is to raise these boys to be well informed and advocate for future generations.
Ashley Rose: When I was little and I attended the Pediatric HIV clinic, the time at the clinic when the moms would sit and talk to each other was very important for my adoptive mom. Having HIV and raising an HIV-positive child can feel very isolating. Only another parent can understand those worries or give advice based on personal experience. And when your child is not doing well medically, only another parent understands your fear. That was the kind of support my adoptive mom received from other women.
My birth mom received another kind of support at the clinic. First, there is the guilt that you feel for passing HIV along to your child. In the mom support groups, it was important to her to know she was not alone, that it was not intentionally done. Then, there was the support she received from my adoptive mom. She was non-judgmental of my biological mom’s addictions and mental illness. My biological mom was so relieved that my adoptive mom loved me and cared for me so deeply. Support from other women helped both of my mothers.
What would you want to say to other women and girls living with HIV?
Martha: Right now, the biggest risk to women living with HIV is often not dying from AIDS but instead it’s dying from violence, comorbidities such as heart disease and diabetes, and other serious aliments like cancer and mental health challenges. Research is showing that women living with HIV are suffering from these diseases at younger ages and higher rates than women who are HIV-free. Women need to become aware of this.
Ashley Rose: For myself, HIV is not that prevalent in my daily life. I take one pill a day, my viral load is undetectable and I don’t think about it very much. When I was young, it was always on my mind. I had to take medications several times a day, take precautions to protect my family, and any illness turned into a big deal. With the advancement of the effectiveness of HIV medications, you can live a normal life. You can get married, have children and live into your senior years. Be optimistic. You have a whole life ahead of you and you can have all the things in life your friends have.
What would it mean for all women and girls living with HIV to have access to the care they need?
Martha: Access to care for all women and girls living with HIV would usher in the end to this epidemic. Women not only care for themselves but they care for families and communities.
Ashley Rose: Having access to the care they need and deserve would mean the opportunity to live a normal life. They can be healthy, find love, have a family and a career, and live into their seventies.
Thank you to Martha, Ashley Rose, and every woman working to support people living with HIV in their communities! Your voices are crucial in our fight for an AIDS-free generation.
The National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness day is an annual observance led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH) and supported by other agencies such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To learn more about what you can do to support your own community, visit womenshealth.gov.
United States
Community Mobilization